An aluminum titanate-based ceramics is a ceramics containing titanium and aluminum as the constitutive elements therein and showing a crystal pattern of aluminum titanate in X-ray diffraction spectrum, and is known as a ceramics excellent in heat resistance (for example, Non-Patent Reference 1), and has heretofore been used as firing tools such as crucibles. Recently, the industrial usefulness of the ceramics has increased as materials for constituting ceramics filters for collecting fine carbon particles contained in the exhaust gas discharged from internal combustion engines such as diesel engines.
For producing such aluminum titanate-based ceramics, there is known a process of firing a powdery starting material mixture containing a titanium source such as titania and the like and an aluminum source such as alumina and the like (for example, Patent Reference 1).